Car door ash tray



April 13, 1954 o. MINNIE CAR DOOR ASH TRAY Filed May 28, 1952 INVENTOR. fl/l/V/V/E,

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ATTD RNEYS Patented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,675,122 I CAR noon AS-H TRAY Orpha Minnie; Vallejo, cam. Application May 28, 1952 ,S erial No. 290,535

. 1 This invention relates to ash'trays of the built in type for use in motor vehicles, and in particular a vertically disposed chute adapted to be installedin-a door of a motor vehicle with a tray pivotally mounted in'the upper end of the chute and adapted to'be drawn outwardly to a horizontal position to provide an ashtray and a closure in the lower end and positioned to be closed by the sill of a motor vehicle with the door in the closed position.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved ash tray for motor vehicles in which the ash tray may be positioned for the convenience of occupants of the rear seat and also in which ashes are removed from the device each time a door of the vehicle in which the device is installed is opened.

With the conventional type of motor vehicle ash tray that is built into the instrument board is is inconvenient to remove ashes from the tray and trays of this type are not conveniently positioned for occupants of rear seats of vehicles.

With this thought in mind this invention contemplates an ash tray in the form of a chute extended through or between the walls of a door of a motor vehicle wherein ashes are deposited in a tray pivotally mounted in the upper end of the chute and are removed from the device by a door hinged to the lower end of the chute and retained in position by engagement of the door of the chute with the floor or sill of the vehicle with the vehicle door in the closed position.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a chute adapted to be installed in a door of a motor vehicle so that ashes may be placed in the chute from the interior of the vehicle and removed from the chute from the outside of the vehicle with the door in which the chute is positioned open.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ash receiving chute adapted to be incorporated in a door of a motor vehicle that may be installed in vehicles now in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ash receiver or tray for use in doors of motor vehicles which is of a simple and economical con struction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention embodies an elongated tubular casing having a tray hinged in the upper end and adapted to be opened to a horizontal position and a door hinged to the opposite end of the chute and adapted to be retained in the closed position by engagement thereof with the sill or lower part of a vehicle with the door in which the chute is positioned in the closed position.

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-'--19.5)

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the chute showing the chute incorporated in a door of a motor vehicleand in which the door isshown in dot and dash lines.

Figure 2 is an elevational view showing the chute independent of the door and looking toward the inside of the chute.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan through the upper part of the chute taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a view looking upwardly toward the under end of the chute.

Figure 5 is a detail showing a section through the lower end of th chute illustrating a modification wherein a door hinged to the lower end of the chute is retained in the closed position with a magnet mounted in the lower part of the chute.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts the improved ash receiver of this invention includes a chute In which is of such a size and shape that it may be installed in a door of a motor vehicle between inner and outer walls of the door and the upper end of the chute is provided with an opening II in which a tray I2 is positioned, the tray I2 being pivotally. mounted in the chute with a hinge I3 whereby the tray is adapted to swing outwardly to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 for use and inwardly to the position shown by the dotted lines I4 when not in use whereby the tray provides a closure for the opening I I.

The lower end of the chute is provided with a door I5 that is secured to the chute by a hinge I6 and a spring I I which is secured to the door I5 by rivets I8 engages a sill I5} of the door 20 of the vehicle as the door of the vehicle is closed whereby the door I5 is retained against the lower end of the chute, closing the chute with the door 20 in the closed position.

The lower edges of the chute are provided with reinforcing strips 2| and 22 and the lower edges of the sides of the chute are flared outwardly as shown at the points 23 and 24.

The tray I2 is provided with side walls 25 and 26 an arcuate outer end wall 21 with a cigarette holding tray or snuffer 28 extended from the upper edge and also an end wall 29 on the opposite end which is positioned to nest against an inner wall 30 of the chute whereby with the tray in the open or extended position the upper edge of the inner wall 29 is in engagement with a stop 3| which retains the tray in an outwardly extended position. The end wall 29 may also be formed to permit the tray l2 to rotate about the axis of the hinge I3 to facilitate opening and closing the tray.

The tray I2 is also provided with a knob 32 to facilitate withdrawing the tray to the open position and the knob is provided with an air valve 33 to which an air hose, such as the motor vehicl tire inflation hose may be connected so that air under pressure may be supplied to the chute for cleaning ashes, butts, and the like therefrom.

In the design illustrated in Fig. 5 a chute 34, similar to the chute I0 is provided with a door 35 which is hinged to the chute with a hinge member 36 and, in this design, the lower end of the chute is provided with a magnet 31 by which the door may be retained in the closed position, and with the door retained in the closed position by the magnet it will remain closed until manually opened. It will also be understood that the magnet may be controlled from a remote point, so that the door may be automatically closed, as in the design shown in Fig. 1 or manually closed or manually opened as may be desired.

It will be understood that other modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In an ash receiver for motor vehicles which includes a chute having an open lower end that is mounted in the door of a vehicle so that the end of the chute terminates adjacent the lower end of the door above the sill of the door the improvement comprising a gravity actuated closure hinged to the lower end of the chute for closing the open lower end thereof, an elongated spring rigidly secured to the under side of the closure, said spring engaging .the :silLof the door when the door is in closed, position and when the vehicle door is opened said closure will pivot by gravity from contact with the lower end of the chute to permit the contents of said ash receiver to be disposed outwardly of the vehicle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 675,753 Myer June 4, 1901 1,432,714 Metheny Oct. 17, 1922 1,672,614 Keller June 5, .1928 1,817,288 Benjamin Aug. 4, 1931 1,959,963 Overmyer May 22,1934 2,364,078 Kisselle Dec. 5, 1944 2,499,942 Boyce Mar. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number 7 Country Date 194,171 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1923 

